The $130 billion figure, cited by Russian propaganda and attributed to former British diplomat Ian Proud, has been misrepresented. Proud did not claim that Ukraine has already disbursed such a sum in compensation to families of fallen soldiers. Rather, the figure reflects projected total liabilities — encompassing future payments to families of the deceased, those missing in action, disabled service members, and wounded military personnel.
Kremlin-linked media, social media users, and Telegram channels continue to amplify disinformation about Ukrainian military losses. In the latest narrative, Russian propaganda alleges that Ukraine has already paid over $130 billion in compensation to the families of fallen soldiers.
Citing a compensation figure of 15 million hryvnias (around $400,000) per fallen soldier, pro-Kremlin outlets suggest that nearly 400,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed — not counting the wounded or missing. They attribute these calculations to British ex-diplomat Ian Proud, referencing an article he published for Responsible Statecraft, an outlet affiliated with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
“The amount of compensation to families of fallen Ukrainian soldiers has exceeded $130 billion, writes Responsible Statecraft. That means 400,000 dead in Ukraine. Same number of soldiers is missing. Altogether, that’s a million,” pro-Kremlin outlets assert.
After the claim gained traction online, fact-checkers at StopFake reviewed Ian Proud’s article in Responsible Statecraft. The investigation found no mention of any $130 billion figure or casualty estimates attributed to the British ex-diplomat — exposing yet another fabricated narrative circulated by Kremlin-aligned sources.
On June 12, Ian Proud published an article in Responsible Statecraft discussing compensation for families of fallen Ukrainian soldiers. In the piece, Proud reflects on challenges related to body identification, references the British experience, and touches on compensation figures. Citing publicly available data, he estimates that approximately 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed. Applying the promised compensation rate of 15 million hryvnias (roughly $400,000) per fallen soldier, Proud calculates a total of around $54.4 billion in potential payouts to families.
While the $130 billion figure does appear in Proud’s article, it is presented in a different context. The estimate reflects Ukraine’s potential total financial liabilities — including compensation for deaths (both confirmed and missing), disabilities, and injuries among military personnel — not payments already made to families of fallen soldiers. The authors of the propaganda narrative falsely portray this projection as an amount already disbursed solely for fatalities. Moreover, Proud himself cites media sources and explicitly notes the highly approximate nature of his calculations.
While Ukrainian service members continue to suffer casualties, Russian propaganda routinely seeks to vastly inflate Ukraine’s losses. StopFake has previously debunked claims that 70,000 Ukrainian troops “died in vain” in Russia’s Kursk region, as well as fabricated reports attributed to ABC News alleging that one million Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and hundreds of thousands wounded.
StopFake has also previously debunked claims alleging that Ukraine deliberately refuses to retrieve the bodies of fallen soldiers to avoid paying compensation to their families.
